Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift put her groping lawsuit to rest in August after prevailing over disc jockey David Mueller, but he said the repercussions of the legal battle have negatively affected his life.
Swift, 28, became engrossed in a publicized court war with Mueller, 56, after the radio personality touched her inappropriately at a meet and greet he attended with his wife. She initially alerted his station—Denver's KYGO-FM—to the incident, which resulted in an investigation and his eventual termination. The "Delicate" singer won $1 in damages upon countersuing her groper, who filed suit first for defamation two years after the attack.
Her case became an early triumph for the #MeToo era. It led to her participation as one of "The Silence Breakers" in the Time Person of the Year issue in December 2017.
Nearly a year after the lawsuit concluded, Mueller—who's since acquired a new radio job in Mississippi—has spoken out to suggest her legal actions damaged his livelihood.
"How can you live with yourself? You ruined my life," Mueller, 55, told Radar Online Tuesday. "I was not ready for the photograph. I admit it was awkward but I never grabbed her. It's not even close to what happened."
Mueller explained how the lawsuit has affected his behavior around women, saying: "Now I'm afraid to even talk to women. I feel like I'm in a prison. I'm not myself anymore. I don't even go near women. It makes me upset. I was always the gentleman. I would always say, 'Hey, watch your language, there's a lady here,' and then I get accused of this."
This isn't the first time Mueller has spoken out against Swift following their courtroom debacle. Shortly after her Time interview detailed her account in December 2017, Mueller argued that she shouldn't be praised for winning against him.
"If they [Time] want to make a connection between my lawsuit and these other cases where women are saying that they got assaulted, I get because it's a magazine. They're trying to sell stuff," Mueller said in a video issued to TMZ. "Do I think she's a hero? I mean, she testified in court because the judge ordered her to. And when I hear her attorney talk about it or her talk about it, they make it seem like it was her choice to testify...I never wanted to settle for money. I wanted to clear my name. I wanted to be able to tell my side of the story."
Swift's assault occurred under what she calls "risky circumstances," with several witnesses that saw the incident during one of The Red Tour's meet and greet sessions in 2013. She aimed to bring her case to the court in the event that he would do this, or more, to a younger and more vulnerable musical artist.
"Going to court to confront this type of behavior is a lonely and draining experience, even when you win, even when you have the financial ability to defend yourself," Swift told Time in December. "Even though awareness is higher than ever about workplace sexual harassment, there are still so many people who feel victimized, afraid and silenced by their abusers and circumstances."
Muller paid her with a $1 Sacagawea coin.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dory Jackson is a New York-based entertainment journalist from Maryland. She graduated from Randolph-Macon College—in May 2016—with a focus in Communication ... Read more
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